Rivian caused quite a stir earlier this week by raising the prices of the R1S and R1T sharply. The American start-up is now returning to that action and the CEO is donning the robes in unconcealed words.
Rivian announced Tuesday that it is raising prices of the R1S and R1T due to things like inflationary pressures, more expensive materials and supply chain problems. For the R1T pick-up, the Quad Motor with the Large battery pack saw a price increase of 17 percent, and the increase was even 20 percent for the same version of the R1S. It caused a lot of fuss among interested parties, but especially among people who have already ordered a Rivian. They would also be confronted with the price increases. Rivian’s stock market value also fell by no less than 4.9 percent. Rivian will not let it grow and will return to the previously communicated prices for the cars already ordered, reports Automotive News.
It can’t hurt that Rivian does that, because the trust of customers who have already placed an order in particular has been badly damaged. “…we made the wrong decision by making these changes for all future deliveries,” said CEO RJ Scaringe. “That has damaged the trust we have built with you,” the CEO writes in a letter to customers. Scaringe puts her own heart in plain language: “I’ve made a lot of mistakes since I founded Rivian 12 years ago, but this is the most painful.”
The price increases seem to continue to apply to cars that have been or will be ordered from Tuesday. This means that the aforementioned versions of the R1T and R1S will cost €71,000 and €76,145 respectively. That was successively €60,800 and €63,000.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl